FROM LONDON WITH LOVE: practising PET writing part 2

This week we practised PET writing part 2 with one of our B1 groups of teens. We decided to break with the daily routine of using the textbook and make it more interesting and motivating. We always try to make students learn in a more realistic environment, that is why we try hard to get them involved in a pure English-speaking environment. Therefore, this time we tried using ‘realia’, what would make our lesson assimilate to real conversational exchange.

For those who are not familiarised with the term, ‘realia’ means using real objects in the classroom to bring the lesson to life and very probably make it more memorable for the students. As I mentioned before, every break with the routine implies more receptivity and motivation on the side of our students. In this case, as we are dealing with exam content, we are making sure that our students will receive the practice very positively and will certainly be more attracted and involved in the task.

How did we do it?

Every time I travel to a foreign country I feel very tempted to take everything I think may have a pedagogical use, that’s why I often come back with a heavier suitcase full of papers, leaflets, magazines or games that I can use in my lessons (my friends and colleagues tell me I am a hoarder, but I’m OK with that).

This time I had an idea: why not sending some postcard to our academy address? That way, our students could see it, read it and experience it as if it was from a real penpal. So, we bought a lot of cheap postcards in one of the million souvenir shops in our last trip to London and we made the plan: I would write a postcard following all the necessary points required by the exam exercise. For example:

You are on holiday with your family in a different country. You decide to write a postcard to your friend.

Write a postcard to your friend. In your postcard you should:

say when you arrived

what your plans are

what you are enjoying the most

Write between 35-45 words on your answer sheet.

I wrote two postcards and sent them via mail (this is optional if you are doing this activity in your home country), then, once it arrived in the academy, the students would have to read them, correct the possible mistakes questions and assess them according to the exercise requirements, asking themselves the following questions:

Does it answer the required questions? (3 points/marks in the exam)

Is it correct in relation to length parameters and structure (greetings/farewell)? (1 mark)

Is it grammatically correct and includes the appropriate vocabulary? (1 mark)

Put it into practice

When it comes to practice, this exercise is very easily to develop. Having seen the postcards that I sent before, the students were automatically motivated to write some themselves and the practise flew very easily.

This activity should be given at least 30 minutes, so that students can analise, correct and answer the questions carefully. It can be done both individually or in pairs, and they can swap their postcards afterwards in order to correct their partners’ job.

This lesson plan could also be contextualised in the unit ‘travelling’ or just included after a warm up exercise on travelling experiences (speaking practice). A brainstorming on the subject of travelling could be done including mind maps with useful vocabulary for the task or possible events or problems one may face when travelling abroad.

Some tips on your PET part 2 writing:

Make sure you’re following the necessary structure as required in the exercise. Be more formal if you are writing to somebody you don’t know or is older than you, such as ‘a teacher’ or ‘your coach’ (do not use Hi!/Hey!/What’s up?, as it is not appropriate). If you hesitate, a simple ‘Hello’ or ‘Dear X’ is correct in any context.

Always follow the necessary points required in the exam, this already gives you an idea. Underlining the task first will help you ensure that you are aware of these requirements. Remember: you have three points/questions/ideas to include –this is already telling you that if you don’t achieve these requirements, you will not get these marks in the test.

Extension is crucial in this exercise. Be concise. You have a maximum of 35-45 words to cover, so don’t go off topic because you may not have space for one of the necessary points to answer/include. If you write longer, the examiner will not read it, and this may include your farewell, which is necessary for the structure: you would be missing 2 parts! (structure and extension).